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Sep 30, 2017 | 01:19

San Juan mayor lashes out at slow pace of aid

The mayor of Puerto Rico's capital San Juan on Friday made a desperate plea in a press conference saying she was ''Mad as hell'' because people's lives are at stake and the help wasn't coming as fast as needed. Jane Lanhee Lee reports.

TRANSCRIPT +

The mayor of Puerto Rico's capital San Juan on Friday made a desperate plea in a press conference saying she was quote "Mad as hell" because people's lives are at stake and the help wasn't coming as fast as needed.
Fighting back tears Carmen Yulin Cruz telling reporters quote: "I am begging, begging anyone that can hear us to save us from dying. If anybody out there is listening to us we are dying and you are killing us with the inefficiency and the bureaucracy."
And adding that unless the food and water get to people's hands we are going to see something close to a genocide.
It's been well over a week since hurricane Maria devastated the island and most of the 3.4 million residents there are still without electricity, and many are struggling to access clean drinking water.
There has been mounting frustration about the lack of support from the mainland.
But on Friday President Donald Trump defending the pace of relief
(SOUNDBITE) President Donald Trump, saying:
"We've saved a lot of lives. We've done a really good job."
While at a separate event cautioning that the island, in addition to facing a massive recovery, must still grapple with its enormous debt.
(SOUNDBITE) President Donald Trump, saying:
"The real question is what's going to happen later."
The president is scheduled to go to Puerto Rico on Tuesday.

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